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The Division Breaks Ubisoft's Biggest First-Day Sales Record

Ubisoft’s The Divisionhas always been seen as ambitious. Despite coming under the ‘Tom Clancy’ brand umbrella, a new IP like The Division is always a gamble. The risk is greater when that new franchise is, when it comes down to it, a massive multiplayer online role playing game. The Division did suffer a bump in the road on launch day with players in the US unable to even play the game within the first few hours of launch.

Thankfully for fans the server issues, at least it seems, were short-lived. Every media outlet currently only has a ‘review in progress’ or articles detailing thoughts on the game’s beta with no pre-release codes made available because the game’s true experience only available when all players can join in. The lack of finished reviews could prevent players from dipping into their pockets until they get a better idea of what the game offers. It leads to a big risk of how many early adopters Ubisoft could convince to gear up from day one.

Well, Ubisoft is now reaping the rewards of their gamble as the company has passed a significant milestone in their sales history. No exact number has been made public but the publisher has proudly announced that The Division has sold more copies on its first day than any other Ubisoft title. That’s a massive achievement considering it is the studio behind the Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rayman series. The game is also the best single day for digital sales for the company. It hasn’t even been a week since release day so whatever numbers Ubisoft currently has, they will no doubt enjoy watching it grow until they announce actual figures.

The Division sales figures will come as extremely welcoming news to any of the company big wigs who may have been worried after it was decided that Ubisoft’s biggest established franchise, Assassin’s Creed will be talking a break in 2016. At least, it will be taking a break from video games. The Michael Fassbender-led Assassin's Creed movie is due to hit theaters this year, with the company hoping no doubt that it will reignite interest in the gaming brand too. While recent release Far Cry Primaldoesn’t seem to be as making as big an impact as anyone could have hoped for (even among the most dedicated of Far Cry fans),The Division is Ubisoft’s biggest hand to play - and so far, it is paying off.

While it all looks at first glance like everything’s coming up roses, The Division carries a responsibility which will only just be beginning to show. With a game of The Division’s nature, having a development team to provide continued support is essential. PS4 owners will be sore that the first DLC packs part of the season pass will be available on Xbox first for 30 days before they can get their hands on it. However, what comes next goes beyond add-ons. Ubisoft has to make sure that all server issues are eradicated, bugs are found and quashed and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to take a leaf out of Star Wars Battlefront’s book and offer up some free content.